Kamala Kumari (6 January 1945 – 26 July 2021), known by her mononymous stage name Jayanthi, was an Indian actress known for her work in Kannada cinema and Tamil cinema. She was noted for her contributions to different genres of films from the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. She had appeared in over 500 films, including films in the Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Marathi languages. She had received seven Karnataka State Film Awards, four times as Best Actress and twice as Best Supporting Actress, the President's Medal for Best Actress and two Filmfare Awards for Best Actress. She has been cited as Kannada cinema's "most bold and beautiful" actress by various media outlets, a title for which she has received substantial publicity. The Kannada film industry honored her with the title "Abhinaya Sharadhe", (Goddess Sharada in acting). Early life Jayanthi was born in Bellary, in the erstwhile Madras Presidency of British India on 6 January 1945. Her father Balasubramanyam worked as English professor at the St Joseph's College in Bangalore. Her mother was Santhanalakshmi. Jayanthi was the eldest of three siblings and had two younger brothers. Her parents separated when she was young and her mother took the children and moved to Madras. Jayanthi's mother was keen on making her daughter a classical dancer and hence she joined a dance school. Her friend in dance school was the famous Tamil actress Manorama. Career Initial struggle As a child, Jayanthi went to the studios to see her idol N. T. Rama Rao. He called her and made her sit on his lap. Affectionately, he had asked her whether she would agree to become his heroine and the little girl had merely blushed. The pair would go on later in life to produce successful films such as Jagadeka Veeruni Katha, Kula Gowravam, Kondaveeti Simham and Justice Chowdhury. Jayanthi was ridiculed most of the time as she was plump and could never dance well. During her teens, she had the chance to act in a few Tamil and Telugu movies in bit parts. Jayanthi was shattered after the episode, but promised herself that one day she would prove her worth. Jayanthi's life changed when noted film director Y. R. Swamy spotted her during one of her dance rehearsals and cast her in his film Jenu Goodu after persuading her unrelenting mother who gave in after the former's third visit to her